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Families find flying more affordable since APD cut, finds research

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The abolition of child Air Passenger Duty before the summer has made flying more affordable for a third of people with families, new Abta research reveals.

The study of more than 2,000 consumers found that 34% of people with children under five and 31% of people with children over five stated that they felt flying was more affordable.

The air tax was cut on economy flights for children under 12 on May 1, giving savings of £26 on flights to Europe and £142 on flights to long-haul destinations such as the US, Thailand and Australia for a family of four with two children under 12.

The savings are set to be extended to more families from March 2016 when children under 16 will be exempt from APD.

This cut follows changes to APD earlier in the year with the abolition of the more expensive long haul APD Bands C and D on April 1.

These changes have simplified the APD system and made destinations such as the Caribbean, India and China more affordable for British travellers.

Abta chief executive, Mark Tanzer, speaking ahead of the October half-term school holiday in England, said: “It is great news that people are feeling the value of this reduction to APD and this cut for children has undoubtedly benefited hard working British families.

“We welcome the government recognising the damaging impact this tax is having and urge them to keep it under review, especially given the announcement by the Scottish government that it will cut APD by 50% with a view to eventually abolishing it.”

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